The polecat progenitor (ancestor) evolved dealing with bones of various sizes, otherwise they would be extinct or short-legged cows. Polecats eat most animals smaller than themselves, and some much larger. Those prey species subsumed within the Vertebrata have, in fact, many small bones. I know of no way a carnivore can consume small prey animals without eating many tiny or fragmented bones. In fact, one of the ways zoologists determine the diet of a carnivore is by identifying the teeth and bones (and fur) found in the feces. Yet, in more than a century of scientific literature, I can find less than a half dozen instances where the confirmed cause of death of ANY non-domesticated carnivore was from eating bone. Admittedly, there are many reports pertaining to dogs having problems eating bone, but they are domesticated animals with significant skull changes (more on this later). Ferrets were primarily domesticated as mousers and ratters, and for hunting hamsters, marmots, and sousliks, a type of European ground squirrel. Later, as cats supplanted ratting, hamsters became rare, and rabbits were introduced into greater Europe, ferrets were used for rabbiting. Because of this, as well as the frequent crossing of ferrets back to polecats to insure stronger hunting drives lost through domestication, while behaviors has changed greatly, and reproductive physiology to some degree, the shape and size of the body and skeleton has not. This quite simply means that if polecats possess the mechanical ability to eat bone, so does ferrets. This is supported by the presence of feral ferrets in New Zealand, whose diet is composed mostly of rabbits, rodents, lizards, birds, and carrion--all containing small bones. As a bit of additional evidence, consider the historic diet of ferrets, which always included (at least in the better circumstances), part or complete animal carcasses. At one time (even now) these included culled chickens, rats, mice, snakes, fish and eels, making it hard for the ferret NOT to encounter bone on occasion. There are NO historical documents, at least that I can find, that suggest ferrets have ever had a problem eating bone. Indeed, MOST of the ferret books from the last century suggest whole carcasses, containing bone, compose the best diet for ferrets. A primary reason dogs are poor analogs for ferrets eating bone is because they have undergone significant morphological changes to their mouth and throat during the process of domestication. The dental arcade in most dogs has significantly changed compared to wolves (either shorter, wider, longer, narrower, or some combination), and the base of the skull has changed in many breeds. Not just the width or length of the mouth is important in swallowing, but also the angle at the back of the throat. Even minor changes to the basilar skull can shift the angle of the hyoid apparatus, a chain of tiny bones that link the tongue and the larynx to the skull. The base of the hyoid is embedded in the root of the tongue, and four short chains of tiny bones attach it to the base of the skull at one end, and the larynx at the other. Changes in the angle of the hyoid can potentially have a great influence on how the tongue is suspended in the back of the throat. In some cases, these changes may make it easier for the dog to swallow bones that could lodge in the esophagus. Ferrets have had many behavioral and some physiological changes due to domestication, but skull changes have been relatively minor, if at all. The biomechanics of swallowing in ferrets are virtually unchanged from the polecat. Additional evidence can be found in the cat, domesticated for the same primary reasons as the ferret=97for ratting and mousing. While some of the modern fancy breeds of cats have considerable changes to the skull and dentition, most others do not. "Mongrel" cats have the same biomechanical ability to consume bone as their wild progenitors. Considering the success of cats to return to a feral state and the number of wild small animals they consume, as well as the propensity of pet cats to hunt while outdoors, it is obvious they eat bone regularly and safely. Because the purpose and morphological changes wrought by domestication are quite similar between cats and ferrets, and the biomechanics of prey consumption are relatively unchanged, it is therefore probably safe to assume that domestication has not altered the biomechanics of bone eating in either species. Ferrets are unique in one respect. Like cats, they dine alone, hide while eating, and eat slow and leisurely. Like dogs, they have a deep-rooted instinct to gnaw on the bones left over after consuming the organs and muscles of their prey. The reason for both lies in the economics of predation and the hunting niche occupied by the polecat. It is the evolutionary history of the polecat that governs the feeding style of the ferret, including the desire and ability to consume bone. Bob C [Posted in FML issue 4155]